Syntax

- refers to the various ways in which words can be arranged in a language. The sentence is the
most fundamental unit, consisting of a primary clause and a subordinate clause (containing at
least a subject and verb).
- Malípay ang batà
- 25 siá
- Ginkáon ko ang curry sa baláy
- Ginkáon (verb), ko (actor), curry (object), baláy (location)

- The Child is happy

- She is 25
- I ate the curry in the house
- I (actor), ate (verb), curry (object), house (location)

Contrast:

According to the book we’ve read, entitled "The Giant Ilonggo Phrasebook, third edition," there
are two forms of sentences in Hiligaynon. Based on that book, the first formation is called DAS, or
Description + "ang" the + subject. In these rules, the adjectives or describers always precede the subject,
or DS (Describer + Subject), where the word "the" is placed in the middle to refer to the subject. While in
English, the subject precedes the adjectives or describer SD (subject + describer).

While the second sentence formation was the VAOL, also known as verb + actor + object +
location, which is different or opposite in English, because in English we have AVOL, where the actor is
the only thing we put in place before the verb, followed by object and location.

Semantics

- Concerned with the study of meaning and how it functions in a sentence. Lexical meaning,
grammatical meaning, sentence meaning, and utterance meaning are four distinct types of meaning
that pertain to derivational morphology, inflectional morphology, syntax, and pragmatics,
respectively. External meaning relationships include denotation (word relationships) and sense
(word relationships) (relationship of word to what it signifies). Internal meaning links include
synonymy (meaning similarity), antonymy (meaning difference), and hyponymy (meaning similarity)
(hierarchical order of meaning).

For Example:

Kumústa?

Kumústa ka? / Kumústa ikáw?

 ‘Músta na?

Okéy lang / Áyos lang (Tagalog)

Maáyo man

Maáyo gid / Okéy gid / Okéy lang gid / Áyos gid

- Hello / How are you? / How is it?

- How are you?
- How’s it going? / How are you now?

- Just fine
- pretty good
- Really good

Contrast:

- In both Hiligaynon and English, there are a lot of words that can be rephrased in many versions
and with the same meaning, but they have or can also accumulate the same answer. The
difference is that in Hiligaynon, there are words that can be shortened from their original forms,
like the example "Músta na?" from the word "Kumústa na?" While the English of "Kumusta,"
which is "How are you?", can't be shortened, it can be rephrased.

Pragmatics

- It is the study of language from a usage standpoint. It can take several forms depending on the
focus placed on it by linguists; for example, it might be studied simply from a linguistic
standpoint or in relation to social factors.

For Example:

Hiligaynon:

- Nagkáon siá sang keyk

- Ginkáon niá ang keyk
- Siá ang nagkáon sang keyk
- Keyk ang ginkáon niá

English:
= She ate cake (This focuses more on the act of eating cake, not so much about which cake was eaten)

= She ate the cake (This means that there was a specific cake she ate)

= She ate cake / She was the one who ate cake (This focuses specifically on the one who it was that ate
cake. It is, however, ambiguous whether a specific cake was eaten or not)

= She ate cake / Cake was what she ate (This focuses specifically on what was eaten)

Contrast:

- In Hiligaynon and English, the sentence structure and also the word formation change as the
speaker wants to emphasize something. But the difference is that in Hiligaynon, sometimes the verb
they are using is changeable but in the same sense in the sentence, like for example,
the words "nagkáon" and "ginkáon" are the same used verb for "ate" in English. And as we can
observe, the sentence and word formation in Hiligaynon change as the speaker wants to give
emphasis to the action and also to the object. But in English, the sentence structure still remains the
same. Only words are added, but the sentence structure does not change. 

How do the salient features of the mother tongue help or intervene in learning a second
language/English?

Knowing one language is very meaningful and important because, as we grow and get older, we
understand things and various concepts in life due to our mother tongue or first language. And because
we have learned our own language, it will be easier for us to understand and learn other languages
when we can compare and convey it in a similar way to the use and structure of our previous language.
Language is just like human development. As we know and go back to the basics, we can more easily
acquire knowledge and adapt skills. Such as in language learning, where when we have our own
language, we can more easily study another language, or to be more specific, the English language.

As a future teacher, how do you best address possible difficulties brought by the structural differences
of one’s mother tongue and English?

For me, as a future teacher, I can address difficulties brought by structural differences by first finding a
common denominator language between me, as their teacher, and also with them, as my native
students. For example, I will first check if he/she knows how to speak Tagalog or Filipino, since that’s our
national language. And if he/she does, then it will be easy for me to teach him/her. Second, by doing my
best to compare and contrast their mother tongue to Filipino and other languages, or specifically,
English. Then, last but not least, by making them free or open to speaking, to explain what their
language was and the meaning of it in Tagalog. From that method, not only me, as a teacher, will learn,
but also my fellow students.